Obamacare a costly distraction from issues

What Hanley fails to realize regarding Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle's statement that Obamacare cuts $500 billion from Medicare is that the argument would be a moot point, had not the Democrats (behind closed doors) greased the palms of the last few holdouts against the bill. Had this not taken place, Hanley could be discussing what is most important to this country — finding jobs and ways to reduce the debt.

One in 10 Americans could not tell you the difference between Obamacare and the Paul Ryan plan, but I'll bet nine out of 10 could talk about this country spending far too much money with far too many Americans out of work.

Talk to Rep. Bill Owens about what he is doing to improve the employment situation in your congressional district — and do it quickly, Mr. Hanley, because after July, I think Owens is going to be wasting even more town hall meeting time explaining why he voted for a health care bill that was unconstitutional, not to mention that 60 percent of the country was not in favor of the bill.

I will also be interested in how Maffei explains why he voted for a 2,700-page bill we don't know a lot about. Was it the calls from Rahm Emanuel and Nancy Pelosi that led to his vote, or was it a decision he made on his own?

As you put it, Mr. Hanley — do we want followers in our congressional districts, or do we want leaders?